After a hugely impressive Racing Post Arkle Trophy success, the range of Douvan's ability remains as wide as the range future options open to him, options running the gamut from next year's Champion Chase to the Gold Cup. There don't appear to be limits to the horse Willie Mullins suspects is the best he's ever trained.
“Where do you go next?” Mullins wondered aloud afterwards. “You’d think about the Champion Chase, of course. I wouldn’t have had any problem with supplementing him for the Champion Hurdle. But he stays as well, and he settles. He could be - he is - a Gold Cup horse.”
If Douvan’s freakish ability momentarily appeared to have his usually smooth trainer struggling to keep up then he wasn’t alone. Bookmakers offered just 2-1 about next year’s Champion Chase and 7-1 for the Gold Cup about a horse who equalled no less than Flyingbolt by winning the Supreme Hurdle and the Arkle back-to-back.
"That's not bad company to keep," said his owner, Rich Ricci while Ruby Walsh summed it up succinctly with the hardy perennial - "He could be anything."
It is the choice open to Douvan which is remarkable although Ricci found out earlier on an emotional rollercoaster of a day that choice can bring its own problems. And that when it comes to plans for horses, a week can be not so much a long time as an eternity.
The American, executive chairman of the Betbright exchange firm, announced on television earlier in the morning that his star chaser Vautour would be declared for Thursday’s Ryanair rather than wait for the Gold Cup.
Just over a week previously Ricci had insisted the horse would either run in the Gold Cup or stay at home. Reaction from some punters and betting firms was predictably harsh, leading to the man who would later see his colours carried to Champion Hurdle glory by Annie Power apologising to punters before racing began.
“If I’ve let punters down, I apologise, I wasn’t trying to,” he said. “The logic was that if he was good enough to work for the Ryanair, he would run in the Gold Cup. It just turns out a 90 per cent Vautour has a better chance of winning the Ryanair than the Gold Cup.”
From fielding questions about the viability of ante-post betting when so many top horses have multiple options to run in, the apparently contradictory nature of his comments, not to mention some social media opprobrium - perhaps the most clever of which was that he should change his name to ‘Switch-Switchy” - it was a quite a day for the colourful ex-banker.
However, what he has to look forward to in terms of the star-studded team of horses which carry his colours will make any reverse feel very temporary.
As well as Douvan and Annie Power, Vroum Vroum Mag also generated some “could be anything” comments after a sauntering OLBG victory. Walsh kept the 4-6 favourite out of trouble for much of the race until eventually picking his way through to win easily.
“Ruby thought at one point last year she could be a Grand National horse as she’s that laid back. We thought she’d be a big chasing type but she keeps surprising us,” said Mullins after winning the race for an eighth consecutive year while Walsh added: “We didn’t really know how good she was and she won impressively today.”
Irish point-to-point racing’s most successful jockey, Derek O’Connor, produced a master-class in the four-mile National Hunt Chase, bringing the JP McManus owned Minella Rocco through from the rear of the file to eventually win from Native River.
It was a record sixth win in the race for trainer Minella Rocco, and a 45th festival victory overall for McManus. O'Connor however looked especially pleased to win his third Cheltenham festival contest.
“Jonjo has been a hero of mine for years and JP has been so good for racing. To be involved with them is special. This horse has a huge amount of potential,” he said, while counting his blessings that he switched to Minella Rocco having been originally contacted to ride the runner up.
“I felt very sad to turn down Native River - it was a horrible decision for me. The owners are racing people and were very understanding,” O’Connor added.
Willie Mullins’ Pont Alexandre sustained a fatal injury in the National Hunt Chase and was put down. The Govaness was another casualty after being fatally injured in a fall at the last in the OLBG.
After Un Temps Pour Tout’s 11-1 victory in the Ultima Handicap Chase the stewards gave 21 riders, including the winner, Tom Scudamore, one-day suspensions for lining up at the start before being instructed to do so. Tom O’Brien was hit even harder with a three-day ban as it was his third offence.
